bikeman543 wrote:Yeah, I have adjusted the heck out of the brakes and I aligned and toed the pads, but still get a squeal. Yes, the rims are painted and nothing seems to be wearing off.

The only other thing is that we ride a sidewalk system and don't interact with traffic, so the brakes are not used very often. So, they may just not be getting enough use out of them to break them in good.

I ride in bike lanes or bike trails, so don't do a lot of braking either. I've also never had the squal some people complain about. Another thing to try is to take the pads off and either file them so they're a little rough, or rub them on the sidewalk for the same effect.

I ran into an issue with my son's Thruster and thought I might mention it, here.

I changed his freewheel to a 16 tooth. Well, I got a Shimano freewheel and it went on just fine. BUT, when I was tightening the wheel down the wheel locked up. Took me a minute to realize the tool recesses on the Shimano stand out away from the body of the freewheel. So, that was hitting against the drop out and wouldn't allow the wheel to spin. It was an easy fix, though. I found a small washer and put it on the axle, between the cone lock nut and the drop out. Problem solved.

I just put a Shimano Single Speed Bicycle Freewheel - SF-MX30 in the 16T size and it is perfect. I got it on Amazon and the comments say the threads change below 16T to some other old school BMX 30mm so I was nervous but the 18T was making me pedal way too fast when riding with my wife. She has a 21 speed from a local bike shop that is really nice but was also $300 compared to my $69 on sale fixie. I wanted my freewheel quick so I paid $28 to get one on Prime but I have seen them closer to $20.

The old 18T freewheel is stamped as a Diamond brand and only has the 2 indentions to remove it. I thought I would destroy it when I took a hammer and old nail set to it to "tap" it counter clockwise. I lucked out and with a little patience it came off and still sounds and feels fine if I ever need it again.

The 16T gives me a lot more speed for fewer revolutions but man does it make me realize I need more leg muscle. I live in Chandler, AZ so things are pretty flat here so I think I will love it but I might regret it if I were still in the rolling Carolinas.

I am not and have never been a bike mechanic but I am wrench smart. I have read the snobs hating on everything about these bikes and I think they are right. If I were going to push any bike to the limits and/or ride multiple thousands of miles per year then the maintenance cost of this bike may be more than a better bike would have cost.

The reality is it will be a fluke if I ride more than 900 miles (or possibly even 300) this year so I doubt I am going to wear anything out. It took some searching for me to discover that "BB" stands for bottom bracket and a little more to find out that means the bearings for the Crank or Drive Sprocket or the part the pedals bolt onto. I am sure you experienced guys are cringing but I am honestly admitting that I am in the large group of people that know little of bicycles. My "BB" doesn't feel all that tight to me so unless the Chinese forgot to add any grease it should be a while before I need to spend the $20ish to replace it with a modern sealed unit. In that case I haven't lost much by waiting for it to fail before I order the new one. Amazon prime will have it to me in 2 days free shipping when the time comes.

My brakes squealed more in the first 50 miles than they have since. I didn't really care. They have always been able to progressively grad harder until both tires lock and that is beyond efficient braking anyway so unless I get better tires it doesn't matter.

As for tires, I had several flats from desert thorns and I recently installed tire liners from REI and with fingers crossed, they have been great.

I love this bike because compared to other big box store bikes, it is light and easy to ride. If I ever wear it out, I may splurge for something nicer but until then I love my Kent Thruster Fixie. I have no plans to flip the hub however.

If you haven't already, you may want to open up the wheel hubs and grease the ball bearings. Lots of videos and websites will show you how to do that. Mine were completely dry and doing that will improve performance as well as life. I did the same to my BB, but it still tore itself apart at around the 200 mile mark, so your choice there as far as I'm concerned

I picked up a Thruster Fixie last June (2014) for $90 and have been using it quite a bit. Mine came with the black frame, red tires & brake levers, white cranks & break calipers.

I've put about 700 miles on it which includes a couple of long rides, 66 miles being the longest so far. I'm planning to do 80 miles some time this month (There is a 130km challenge on Strava). Wish me luck!

I finally HAD to replace something this week for the first time, after 10 months with this bike. The bottom bracket was starting to self destruct, with grinding & resistance. One bearing was badly mangled and the bearing ring was torn apart.

I wanted to share some details about the replacement in case they help anyone else out. The bottom bracket spindle that came out of my bike measures 113mm, so I assume it should be replaced with any 68mm x 113mm sealed cartridge bottom bracket. I read on here that some people have replaced with a 110mm but that didn't work on my bike--the chainring bottomed out against the frame.

The shop ultimately used a Shimano UN-26E 68mm with 123MM SPINDLE!! I'm sort of annoyed that they used SUCH a long spindle, so I may take it back... However I'll take it for a ride this evening and experience any pros or cons to the extra length/gap on the non-drive side.

Before the bb, I had replaced a few other items along the way for personal sizing/preference. Seat post, saddle (I had one laying around that was a baby step up from the stock saddle), 13T Cog (back wheel is hanging halfway out of the dropouts now... I've had no problems so far, but I should probably take a link out of my chain), and I upgraded/downsized to 25mm road tires & tubes, which made a huge difference in rolling resistance no the road.

I agree with others that suggest repacking the bb with grease. Mine was pretty dry and that's probably why I had problems. My wheels were actually packed pretty well with grease but I redid it anyway and adjusted the bearing/cone tightness.

I never expected the cranks, brakes & pedals to last as long as they have. I'll just keep riding them until they die, but one brake lever is showing signs of impending doom!

It is a good idea to check the BB tightness on these. That is hard to do with the chain on, connected to the rear wheel. It may seem fine, but you can't tell until you take the chain off so you can spin the crank freely. If it is tight, fix it. And grease it while you are doing the job. The BB bearings will probably last a very long time, if not nearly forever, if it is greased well and adjusted properly.